Choosing Noel
by IHeartArchuleta
Summary: "As one of the movies were playing, Aria couldn't help but think she made the right choice." Compaion to "Choice" Summary sucks, story's better


Aria Montgomery stood outside the apartment door she had been to so many times before. She was trying to muster up enough courage to knock on the door and do what she had to do. The next few minutes were going to be filled with a lot of emotion.

Finally, after another minute of pacing, she finally knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she didn't know how to stop it. This was going to be one of the hardest things she'd ever have to do.

A moment later the door opened to reveal one Ezra Fitz. He looked surprised to see her there, at first, but then his expression clearly changed to one of joy. "Aria, hey. Come in." He said and moved out of the doorway and she walked in.

She stood and looked at the surroundings in the apartment, she could already feel her eyes stinging. Why did this have to be so hard. Ezra watched her, debating whether or not he should say something.

Finally, after two minutes of silence, Ezra said, "Is everything okay?"

Aria turned to him with tear-filled eyes. "No, Ezra, it's not. I cheated on a really great guy with you two days ago and I shouldn't have."

The older man looked confused so she continued. "I want to give Noel a shot, I really like him. And he likes me. When I got home the day after Mona's party, I felt so bad. I couldn't believe I had done that to him." Tears were pouring down her face now. It hurt Ezra to see her like this, but he didn't dare interrupt, he just let her continue. "I'm not saying I don't love you, Ezra, I do, that's what makes this so hard. But there's just something between me and Noel… you know? I don't want to lose him." She stopped talking and just cried.

Ezra walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. He had to put his feelings of hurt and sadness to the side and do what was best for Aria. "It's okay. You're free to date whoever you want, remember? Letting you go is going to be hard, Aria, but if it's what you really want, I'll do it."

Aria looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "You're a great guy, Ezra, and I really care about you. You need to know this wasn't an easy choice."

He just nodded and kept hugging her. They stayed like that for a good five minutes before Aria pulled away and wiped her eyes. "Okay, I think I need to go talk to Noel now. Thank you for being so great about this, Ezra. You're amazing." She said before giving him a small smile and squeezing his forearm and leaving.

She walked out of the apartment and down to her car to go to Noel's house. The drive took a much shorter time then Aria would've liked, because she knew she could lose Noel if this conversation didn't go well and she didn't want to do that. Noel was one of the most important people in her life right now.

She pulled up by his house and parked by the mailbox by the sidewalk and climbed out of her car. The butterflies in her stomach were going full-force and she hoped she didn't get sick.

She got to the door a moment later and knocked. She hoped he was home, she was afraid she'd lose the nerve to tell him if he wasn't. All her worries of him not being home went away the minute he answered the door and shot her one of his amazing smiles. "Aria, hey. I didn't know you were coming over today. Come on in." He said and moved so she could walk in.

"Noel, I need to talk to you." She said and hoped that her voice didn't break. She could feel her eyes stinging again. She hoped Noel forgave her for what she was about to tell him. She didn't know what she'd do if he didn't.""Sure, what's up?" He said and they took a seat on the couch. She didn't say anything and her eyes started to fill with tears. Noel saw the change in her mood and took her hand in his. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked and she almost lost it right then. She couldn't help but think he wouldn't be this nice to her if he knew what was coming."

"I did a bad thing on Saturday, Noel." He looked confused so she continued. "I-I cheated on you. With the guy from Iceland. He came here to see me and I c-caved. I know it was wrong but I just-" She stopped talking when she saw the hurt look on his face. She hated that she still had to lie to him about what she did, even if it was to protect Ezra.

He took his hand away and looked at her. "You cheated on me? Why? Do you not want to be with me anymore?" He said, sounding sad.

"No!" She almost yelled, panicking. "That's not it at all. It was just a bad case of judgment, but… but I talked to him. I told him you were the one I wanted to be with. I care about you, Noel, a lot more than I've probably been showing you lately."

He looked at her silently, probably trying to decide whether she was telling the truth or not. Aria watched him nervously. She knew the next few moments were crucial to whether or not what she had with Noel was going to keep going. Finally, he sighed. "I don't know what to think, Aria. I mean, when we went out with Sean and Hanna you were so upset about losing this guy and now… you want me. I don't get it."

Aria looked down at her hands. She was relieved that he was at least giving her the chance to explain, and not kicking her stupid unfaithful self out of his house, but she didn't know how to put in words why she wanted Noel more than Ezra. She just did.

"When I left Iceland, it crushed me, because I wasn't going to see him every day anymore. We tried to stay together through long-distance, but it didn't work out. When he ended it, it killed me. I wanted to just give up, for lack of a better term. But then you came along and you made me feel better than I have in a long time." She paused to see his reaction, but he was just waiting for her to finish. His image was blurry through her tears that had formed during the story, though.

She finally continued, "When he came and visited me, I was furious. He had broke my heart, but my resolve faltered and I made the big mistake of cheating on you. I wish I could take it back, though. I really, really do."

Noel was silent for a few more minutes, before he said, "And he's out of your life now? For good?"

Aria nodded and a small smile started forming on her lips, her hopes getting up, even though she knew they shouldn't. "Yes, he's out of my life. For good."

Noel looked at her for a few more seconds before letting a small smile grace his features. "Okay, then. And who am I to turn away the most amazing girl in school?"

Aria smiled back at him and asked, "You forgive me?" He nodded and she moved closer to him on the couch, laying her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. For Aria, she had never felt better in her life, not even during her time with Ezra. She felt safe and _loved_. She looked up at Noel and smiled at him. He smiled back before leaning down and kissing her.

When they broke away, the couple stayed like that and watched old movies and took joy in the other's company. As one of the movies were playing Aria couldn't help but think she made the right choice.

***hands out virtual chocolate chip cookies to everyone that reviewed "Choice"* It means a lot to me, guys. You're all wonderful. I'll give out virtual cookies to everyone who reviews this story, too.**

**Okay, except for that little bit of fluff at the end, did you guys think everyone was IC? I'm still trying to get the hang of writing PLL characters. I know a lot of people won't read this, because they like Ezra&Aria more, but I was thinking of doing a different version of this story, with Aria picking Ezra instead. Would you guys be interested?**

**I'm actually surprised at how easy it was for me to write the Ezra and Aria part of this story, considering I'm a Noel&Aria shipper. Maybe it's cuz they were breaking up? Hmmm… I don't know. But I think this turned out better than I expected.**

**R&R guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Pretty Little Liars**_** or its characters. It belongs to ABC Family and the author of the books. If I did, Toby wouldn't be in jail, there would be a lot more Noel/Aria moments, and a LOT more of Alex and Spencer**


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